EIB funds London's renewable energy

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed a £250mn (US$365mn) loan facility with Danish renewable energy producers DONG Energy.

The loan, which matures after nine years, is backed by the Danish ECA EKF and will be used to part-finance the construction of the London Array offshore wind farm, which will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm once completed.

The first phase of the project has a 630MW capacity and is expected to begin production in 2012 in time for the London Olympics.

DONG owns half of the farm, with E.ON and Masdar holding 30% and 20%, respectively.

Simon Brooks, EIB vice-president responsible for the UK, comments: “The European Investment Bank is pleased to be able to support DONG Energy’s contribution to London Array. This project will make a significant contribution to meeting both Europe’s and the United Kingdom’s energy targets.”

Morten Buchgreitz, senior vice-president at DONG Energy, tells GTR: “Green energy has got a real advantage when you are looking for financing these days so there was a lot of interest in the deal. The project is related to two Danish companies to the UK for the London Array project so it made it more appealing to EFK.”

The significance of renewable energy is also highlighted by Carsten Krogsgaard, chief financial officer at DONG Energy, adds: “London Array is a cornerstone in [the] transaction towards a greener future. The EFK-guaranteed EIB funding of the project supports our robustly financed investment programme.”